Dr. Nancy Lee Heath
Distinguished James McGill Professor听|听Director, Development and Intrapersonal Resilience Research (DAIR) Team听| Co-Founder/Co-Director, Self-Injury Outreach and Support (SiOS)听| Director of Education for Mental Health Resilience Office, Faculty of Education
Research Partner, Centre of Excellence for Mental Health (CEMH), Lester B. Pearson School Board
- Building mental health resilience in educational settings
- Mindfulness
- Non-suicidal self-injury
- Emotion regulation
- Student stress and coping
Dr. Nancy Heath is a Professor in the Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology (ECP) and holds the award title of Distinguished James McGill Professor. Her research program explores resilience and adaptive functioning in young people at risk (children, adolescents, and young adults) and she is an international leader on non-suicidal self-injury. She is a founding member and Past-President of the International Society for the Study of Self-Injury (ISSS), and the recipient of the Canadian Association for Graduate Studies' Dr. Suning Wang Award for Outstanding Graduate Mentorship, the Canadian Committee of Graduate Students in Education鈥檚 Mentorship Award, and McGill's David Thomson Award for Graduate Supervision and Teaching, all in recognition of her outstanding support for graduate students. She has published and presented extensively on topics related to mental health and resilience in educational settings and has worked in collaboration with schools for more than 25 years. Dr. Heath has received generous funding in research grants from provincial, national, international, and foundational agencies.
Dr. Heath's research team is committed to conducting both applied and basic research addressing issues of mental health resilience in students of all ages. They focus on issues related to mental health in听elementary, secondary, post-secondary educational settings; examining emotion regulatory difficulties, stress, coping, mindfulness and non-suicidal self-injury. They are very committed to outreach and support of youth/young adults听who are struggling. To this end, the team provides workshops and online outreach and training around issues related to students鈥� mental health and wellness听at every age. We commonly use participatory action research approaches, working together as equals with community-based partners and those with lived experience of mental health challenges and/or self-injury.听
- Post-Doctoral Fellowship, School of Psychology, University of Ottawa, Canada
- PhD, Human Development, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, Canada
- M.Ed., Counselling Psychology, University of Ottawa, Canada
- BA, Psychology, McGill University, Canada
|
Petrovic, J., Mettler, J., B枚ke, B. N., Rogers, M. A., Hamza, C. A., Bloom, E., Di Genova, L., Romano, R., & Heath, N. L. (2024). The effectiveness and acceptability of formal versus informal mindfulness among university students with and without recent self-injury: A randomized controlled trial. Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being. 听 |
|
Zito, S., Petrovic, J., B枚ke, B. N., Sadowski, I., Carsley, D., & Heath, N. L. (2024). Exploring the stress management and well-being needs of pre-service teachers. Journal of Teaching and Teacher Education, 152, 104805. 听听 |
|
Lewis, S. P., Collaton, J., Heath, N. L., & Whitley, R. (2024). Lived experience views on what contributes to self-injury stigma: A thematic analysis, Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health, 43(2). 听听 |
|
Mettler, J.,听 Mills, D. J., & Heath, N. L. (2024). The role of mindfulness and flow in predicting problematic video game use. The Journal of Happiness Studies, 25, 109. 听 |
|
Petrovic, J.,鈥疭adowski, I., B枚ke, B. N., Mettler, J., Bastien, L., & Heath, N. L. (2024). Perceived degree of reaching adulthood: A novel predictor of emerging adults鈥� well-being in emerging adulthood. Current Psychology. 听 |
|
Petrovic, J., Mills, D. J., & Heath, N. L. (2024). A Self-Determination Theory perspective on the relationship between emotion regulation styles, mindfulness facets, and well-being in adults with self-injury. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 80, 2029-2044. 听听 |
|
Mettler, J. , Zito, S., Bastien, L., Bloom, E., & Heath, N. L. (2024). How we teach mindfulness matters: Adolescent development and the importance of informal mindfulness. Journal of School Psychology, 105, 101323. 听听 |
|
Moumne, S., Petrovic, J., & Heath, N. L. (2024). Dimensions of emotion regulation as mediators of the relationship between implicit theories of emotion with stress and well-being.鈥�Psychological Reports, 1-19. 听 |
|
Simundic, A., Argento, A., Mettler, J., & Heath, N. L. (2024). Perceived social support and connectedness in non-suicidal self-injury engagement. Psychological Reports, 1-16. 听 |
|
Petrovic, J.*,鈥疢ettler, J.*, Cho, S.*, & Heath, N. L. (2024). The effects of loving-kindness interventions on positive and negative mental health outcomes: A systematic review and meta-analysis.鈥疌linical Psychology Review, 110, 102433. 听听 |
|
Cho, S., Bastien, L., Petrovic, J., B枚ke, B. N., & Heath, N. L. (2024). The role of mental health stigma in university students鈥� satisfaction with web-based stress management resources: Intervention study. Journal of Medical Internet Research (JMIR) Formative Research, 8(1), e50018. 听听 |
|
B枚ke, B. N., Petrovic, J., Zito, S., Sadowski, I., Carsley, D., Rodger, S., & Heath, N. L. (2024). Two for one: Effectiveness of a mandatory personal and classroom stress management program for pre-service teachers. School Psychology, 39(3), 312-324. 听听 |
|
Simundic, A., Van Hove, L., Baetens, I., Bloom, E., & Heath, N. L. (2024). Non-suicidal self-injury in elementary schools: School educators鈥� knowledge and professional development needs. Psychology in the Schools, 61(5), 1868-1880. 听听 |
|
Petrovic, J., Milad, J., Mettler, J., Hamza, C., & Heath, N. L. (2024). Surprise and delight: Response to informal versus formal mindfulness among university students with self-injury. Psychological Services, 21(3), 674-684. 听听 |
|
B枚ke, B. N., 鈥疛oly, M., Bastien, L., & Heath, N. L. (2024). 鈥疜eep it brief: Can a 4-item stress screener predict university adjustment over 18 months? Higher Education Research & Development, 43(5), 1026-1039. 听听 |
|
Joly, M.,鈥� Petrovic, J., 鈥疢ettler, J., & Heath, N. L. (2024). A longitudinal investigation of university adjustment among students with and without a history of non-suicidal self-injury.鈥� Journal of American College Health, 72(5), 1496-1506. 听听 |
|
Petrovic, J., 鈥疊astien, L., Mettler, J., & Heath, N. L. (2024). Mindfulness receptivity, dispositional mindfulness, and coping self-efficacy in university students with and without a history of self-injury. Journal of College Student Mental Health, 38(1), 57-76. 听听 |
- M.A. Human Development
- Ph.D. Human Development
- M.Ed. Concentrations in Educational Psychology
- M.A. School/Applied Child Psychology
- Ph.D. School/Applied Child Psychology
Not accepting students for 2025-2026
